Options
by SparkELee
Summary: Summer didn't exactly go as planned for Don Flack... But that doesn't mean he doesn't have options... FM!


I'm Baccccckkkkk…

Sorry it's been so long kiddos…. Health issues, family issues, moving issues, work issues…

I had issues.

Issues are now gone.

So to signify my triumphant return, I thought I'd post the start of a new story and hopefully have some updates by the end of the week!

Options

Summer hadn't exactly been kind to Don Flack Jr.

The weather had been brutal, the job even more so.

The one thing he'd hoped wouldn't be brutal was the woman he'd been quietly pursuing.

Jennifer Angell had been quite a difficult woman to pin down. She'd been distant with him for several years before finally allowing him close enough to call him a friend.

Well, Don Flack didn't need anymore friends.

Anyone who knew Don knew he wasn't big on dating. He was a "nose to the grindstone" type of man, most women weren't able to tolerate that attitude, that is, except for one raven haired detective.

He'd quietly, smoothly, slowly wormed his way past a working relationship and into a friendship.

Now, after an entire summer of shared lunches, inside jokes, shy smiles and sly winks, he was ready to move forward. He was incredibly nervous. He hadn't felt this way about a woman in a very long time and the feelings knotted up deep in his stomach were making him nauseous.

He didn't get serious about women very often, but when he did, he was full steam ahead, and admittedly, he tended to forget that not all women are prepared for that kind of attack.

Which was why he was now sitting, alone, on a barstool in his buddy's bar, feeling like a complete fool.

_Flashback to 2 hours before…_

_Don sat at the bar in McGuire's, nervously ripping his beer bottle label to shreds. Every thirty seconds, his eyes shifted to the clock and then to the door._

"_Dude, you're acting like a 16 year old girl afraid she's about to be stood up."Josh said from behind the bar._

_Don rolled his eyes at his long time buddy. "Bite me. And don't pretend like you wouldn't feel the same way if it were you waiting on Jennifer Angell and not me."_

_Josh grinned. "Oh, I'm waiting for her all right. One of these days she's going to wake up and realize I'm who she's wanted all along."_

_Don opened his mouth to ask who Josh was talking about but the door swung open and the girl of the moment came striding through the door. Her eyes landed on Don and her face lit up._

"_Lucky bastard." Josh muttered before offering Jenn a smile and heading down to take care of his other customers._

"_Don. What's up?" She greeted as she sat down and took hold of the beer he'd ordered for her._

"_Listen, I'm going to cut right to the chase. I've really enjoyed getting to know you this summer." He started, gathering his courage around him._

"_Me too Don. It's been good having a friend on the force." She agreed._

"_Well, that's the thing. I don't just want to be friends, I have a lot of them…. I… I think you're a fantastic cop and an even more amazing woman, and I'd like to take you to dinner sometime, if that's OK with you…" He trailed off, shooting her a flirtatious smile._

_But just as quickly as his smile appeared, hers disappeared._

"_Oh… Um, Flack… Don… That's really great of you to ask, but I thought you knew… I'm… I've been seeing Danny for a little over a month now."She explained, hating that his cheeks were reddening before her eyes._

"_Oh.. Yeah, didn't know that."_

"_I… It… It wasn't… We didn't… I ran into him at a bar after him and Lindsay broke up for the second time and we just got to talking, and one thing led to another… We were keeping it quiet, we didn't want it to cause any problems, but I figured he would have at least told you." She went on, feeling awful for having to say all of this._

"_No, you know what though, it's cool. It explains a lot. Forget I ever said anything Jenn."_

_She nodded and sat there for another moment, feeling incredibly awkward and out of place._

_Finally, she stood and pulled out a ten dollar beer. "Here, for my beer… I'm going to get going…." She trailed off, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear._

"_Don't insult me. Keep you money. Have a nice night. Tell Messer I said hello."_

_He watched her figure retreat to the door. He kept hoping she'd glance back, give some sign of interest, but nothing, not even a turn of the head._

_A moment later, another beer appeared in front of him._

"_On the house." Josh said before walking away and giving his friend the distance he obviously needed._

_End Flashback_

"Seat taken?" A small voice questioned.

He turned and found Lindsay leaning against the bar, about to sit on the stool Jenn had vacated.

"Not as far as I can tell." He replied miserably.

Lindsay inhaled nervously. She hadn't realized Don was going to be at her little hang out. Sure, she and he got along just fine within the confines of work hours. But once the bell rang, well, she didn't spend a lot of time with him, she didn't really know him.

But it wasn't for lack of wanting to. She was a little shy, and she'd dated his best friend… Her interest in him… She hadn't been sure if it was entirely allowed, so she had been holding back.

But when she'd come through the door of the bar and spotted him, he looked incredibly upset. She didn't feel right just ignoring him.

She took a deep breath and tried to figure out something to say. "Um… I know it's probably none of my business and we don't really talk much outside of work, but are you OK?" She silently congratulated herself on coming up with something eloquent to say.

"Fine. Just fine. Thanks Linds."

"I don't believe you. Let me buy you a drink."

"Really, I'm OK. I don't need a drink." He retorted, his words a tad icier than he'd intended.

"Don't worry about him, he's grouchy when he gets his heart broken." Josh teased, giving Lindsay a wink as he set down a drink in front of her.

She shot Josh a nervous smile before taking a sip of her drink.

Don watched as Josh returned her smile before nearly tripping over his own two feet as he tried to move down to their end of the bar.

"Heartbreak huh? Find that hard to believe…" She muttered, taking a long pull on her drink, not really thinking he'd heard her.

"Why's that so hard to believe?" He asked, turning his blue eyes towards her.

She felt her insides melt a little under his intense blue eyes. His gaze was much heavier than a certain other pair of blue eyes.

"It's just… You're… You…" She replied, stumbling over her words like she was drunk.

"Right, I'm me, and you're you. Anything else detective?" He teased.

She took a drink and a breath before answering.

"What I mean is that you don't seem like the sort to have issues with women." She clarified.

"Why? Because you think that women just fall at my feet? You think that they find me so attractive that I can get whatever woman I want? You think that I just smile, toss a pick-up line their way and they just melt? You think I play women like that? You don't know me at all, don't just sit there and assume that just because I'm a man that I treat people that way!" He snapped, his emotions getting a little farther away from him than they should have.

He watched her face falter a bit. She cleared her throat and set down her drink.

_Do not cry. Do not react. Just get up and leave._

She stood and tossed a twenty towards Josh. "You know, I think I'm done for the evening. And for the record, I wasn't thinking any of those things. The reason I found it so hard to believe was because you seemed like a good man who cared tremendously about everything in your life, your job, friends, family, country. You seemed kind, honest, trusting and I figured any woman with half a brain would be attracted to that. Guess I was wrong. " She gave a nod to Josh and turned on her heel and marched out the door.

"That's amazing. You managed to have two women walk out on you within 3 hours of each other. And the best part is, that one was actually into you and you were too busy being nasty to her to notice. Sorry bud, no free beer this time." Josh said as the door slammed shut.

"She was not into me." Flack shot back with a roll of his eyes.

"Really? You're so sure? She came in here, and instead of sitting down anywhere else, she sat down right next to you, she approached the lion's den. She tried to be kind, offered to buy you a drink, listen, and you yelled at her, and turns out, you were the one who was way off base. Way to go." Josh congratulated sarcastically.

Flack sat there for a moment, contemplating his actions. A moment later, it all came together and he sat up a little.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Pretty sure by now you've figured out you owe her an apology."

Flack jumped up and hurried outside. He turned in a quick circle, hoping to catch sight of her.

Not seeing her, he started to head uptown, only knowing that to be the general direction of where she lived.

After 5 minutes of walking/running, he was just about to call Mac and ask for her address, when he caught a glimpse of her turning a corner about 50 yards in front of him.

"Lindsay!" He called out, stepping up his gait.

A few moments later, he caught up to her.

She stopped when he grabbed onto her arm.

"Really Flack? Aren't you done yelling at me for the night?" She asked, trying to pull her arm loose.

"I'm done yelling but I haven't even started apologizing." He said, not letting go, and instead grabbing her other arm.

"I'm sorry, I should have never have said any of those things. It was uncalled for. My evening didn't pan out… Hell, my whole summer didn't pan out, and I guess I just took it out on you."

"Great, thanks. Apology accepted." She replied, her tone disbelieving as she tried to wriggle free.

He didn't release her. "Lindsay, stop wiggling and listen. I meant what I said. You are just about the last person I'd ever even think about speaking to like that." He explained, her big brown eyes looking up into his blue gaze.

"That's great, but really, this isn't necessary." She told him, her tone neutral as she struggled a little harder.

He sighed and decided to put an end to the struggling. He backed her against a wall and lowered his eye level to hers.

"I like you. I like you as a detective, as a lab rat, as a human being, and as a woman. I always thought Messer was a complete idiot for letting you go and that really, you were too good for him to begin with. You did NOT deserve to be yelled at like that and I never yell at women. I am very sorry for what I did and I promise you that I won't do it again. I was too wrapped up in a woman who didn't want me, and I want you to know that all those things you said, I am those things. I am." He said, his face inches from her.

A second later, he let her go. After holding her gaze a bit longer, he turned to leave.

"I know. I know that…. You are those things..." She called to him.

He stopped.

She approached him from behind, silently gathering the courage to do what she was about to do. "You are. You're a good guy Flack, and if Jenn doesn't want you, well then, I guess she doesn't see what I see." She told him as she stood in front of him.

He stood there for a moment, and cocked his head a little to the left.

"How did you know?" He asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

Her cheeks turned red. She hadn't meant to say Jenn's name, she'd meant to just refer to her as just 'some girl'…

"Lindsay Monroe… Do you… Do you…. Like me?" He questioned, raising his eyebrows at her.

She gulped and looked away. "Like you as a co-worker? Or as a human being?" She asked, nervously stalling.

He grinned. "As a man."

"Well, sure, you're a nice man. I just said that." She reminded him, her hands sweating now.

"I know you think I'm a nice man. That's not what I asked you. Maybe I need to be more clear. Do you like me in the 'you want to see me naked' way or in the 'I think he's a good guy' way?" He clarified.

He waited.

She gulped for oxygen.

"Um… Can I go with Option C?" She asked after a moment, feeling the moment of truth coming on.

"Depends. What's Option C?"

"All of the above."

He grinned. "I'm good with Option C."

FINIS!


End file.
